Your most comprehensive look at the Sneaker Resale Market

Resale Report: 4.15.17

Compared to the previous weekend, the sneaker release slate for the week ending April 15th was very tame, indeed a veritable ‘bye week’ as the end of the first third of the year nears.

Jordan had but two drops, an 11 Low in the timely UNC-esque colorway, plus another sure-to-sit XXX1 low.

Nike, once again, had a number of gems on tap, and once again dropped the majority of them before Saturday.

Meanwhile, Adidas, having shotgun-blasted a barrage of kicks at buyers the previous week, featured just a quartet of Alex Wang-designed kicks this time.

Nike

Even with its zany new fondness of dropping most of its shoes during the week, the Swoosh still rules the roost when it comes to bringing back classic silos and colorways, as well as baiting buyers into copping shoes simply because they are limited-and-Nike.

Kobe AD

So it was that on Wednesday, April 12th, Nike dropped the limited DeMar DeRozan Kobe AD ‘Compton’, a slick bit of backdoor marketing for a Nike athlete who is, as yet, without a signature shoe, but has sported the Kobe signature during an all-star caliber season.

The Compton Kobe has resold for logical prices of $225-$250 in the aftermarket in moderate numbers, a handful of buyers chasing the ‘special’ colorway of a shoe whose general releases are otherwise destined for clearance and the discount store circuit.

‘Love the release, not the silhouette,’; that’s the Nike way nowadays.

Thursday, April 14th, was Nike Sportswear day, the Swoosh dropping eight colorways across four silhouettes: Air Max ’97, Zoom Spiridon, Air Force 1 , and the Air Max 1 Ultra Flyknit.

Air Max ’97

After countless limited drops in Europe (as well as Kith) , the Silver Bullet AM ’97 finally saw a proper release in the US of A on Thursday, the 13th.

Aftermarket prices haven’t been too crazy following the inevitable sell out, with prices ranging from $225-$250 on average. The shoes however, have done business in high volume, a reflection of not only the colorway, but also the fact that Nike simply does not release many 97’s; the kicks are a genuine ‘treat’ for buyers.

Air Max 1 Ultra Flyknit

This shoe was teased along with the other Air Max Day collabs, but somehow arrived fashionably late for that party.

The shoe has still seen love from buyers, with the Nikelab-branded shoe disappearing from shelves in short order.

Since then, a small contingent of buyers have paid elite level prices on eBay of close to $300-$400, whilst most have shrugged off the futuristic kicks and its eye-catching packaging.

AF 1 jewel

(Sigh) You see, the problem with having a shoe so popular, so iconic it can move millions of GR pairs at ‘budget’ prices of $80-$100 (despite often having mediocre quality) is the fact that slightly more expensive, truly premium quality versions elicit hesitancy from spoiled buyers.

Such has been the fate of the trio of Nikelab Air Force 1 Jewel kicks released on April 14th: they’re all sitting there in nearly all sizes a week after their release. Buyers are in no hurry to pay $150+ tax for the tonal kicks , not when there are a bevy of dope AF 1 colorways available at cut-rates far below that number.

Zoom Spiridon

Three colorways of this style dropped on the 13th, with the Miami Dolphin ‘Teal’ colorway selling the best of them all.

Each of the colors is still available however, here, as buyers become convinced that the Spiridon is more akin to the air monarch than its actual sibling the am 97.:

Adidas wasted little time pushing more AW footwear into the market, dropping another two colorways of the AW Skate just weeks after the shoe made its debut. Another two AW Run shoes, part of the initial Wang collection rollout, also saw a release.

AW Skate

As it had the first time, the AW Skate’s two colorways mostly sold through at retail.

After that, though, the shoes have hardly been sought-after, with just a handful of completed sales for either the Maroon or Green colorways in contrast to the the original two colors. Prices have ranged from $60-$120 over retail, but should drop sharply as it seems the silhouette (probably boost-less) have not exactly excited most adi buyers.

AW Run

At $230 MSRP, the AW Run certainly doesn’t give away a lot of value, positioning the shoe at a price which says “if you want the shoe, this number should be no problem for thee.”

Being the typical hyper-limited adi collab, the shoes sold out, but have seen scant action in the aftermarket, with sellers forced to ask $300+ for a shoe that, frankly, is still finding its legs.

Jordan

Retro 11 Low

” Seeing as I knew my alma mater UNC was a guarantee to win the 2017 NCAA finals, I specifically timed the release of this UNC 11 colorway to fall soon after the heels got their ring….”

Such is the completely fictional quote MJ might have made, had MJ been the type of person to you know, engage with common folk at all.

So, yes, the Tar Heel-esque retro 11 Low was, once again, just one of a couple JB drops for April 15th, a sure-to-sell colorway that was needlessly dropped via reservation procedures, despite the fact that there were obviously enough pairs to satisfy demand, judging from fact good sizes are still available (at Nike, no less) more than a week after the drop. They’ll be gone before the month ends, but the make-the-shoe-seem-more-limited-than-it-actually-is release strategy is plain cynical on the part of Jordan.

Despite this fact , a number of pairs have still been resold on eBay, as buyers who jumped the gun under the false assumption of a limited drop sought to quickly move out of their liability mostly at recoup level prices.

Mid-Atlantic boutique, Commonwealth, once again worked its magic on the Asics Gel Lyte V silhouette, the most recent Kultura drop releasing almost exactly two years after its well-received Da Vinci colorway of 2015.